Paracord guild Empowering the paracord community.
This tutorial is dedicated to the backbone bar paracord bracelet.
In my quest to seek out as many quick deployment ready bracelets I also encountered the backbone bar tying technique.
The bracelet itself does indeed resemble the backbone, hence the name. It is made using a series of slip knots, which is quite ingenious if you ask me. I must admit that although the slip knot is a fairly intuitive knot to begin with, it is also a knot that is sometimes a bit challenging to tighten properly. It took me a few attempts at the bracelet to get it looking right. A lot of patience was needed and some frustration was evident, since the technique looks simpler than it is. But hey, I laughed, I cried, but since tying this bracelet, my slip knots look amazing :)!
The bracelet indeed looks phenomenal (I think it was J.D.Lenzen who originally demonstrated it), can be unraveled in seconds and the look is so neat that I may use it in some other projects as well.
It really does look like a backbone, does it not?
In the tutorial you will see the bracelet made using a shackle, but a buckle can be used instead. The bracelet will look the same, but will not be quick deployment ready.
Bracelet information:
- Difficulty: medium
- Cord storage: medium
- Child friendly: no
The supplies
- a piece of paracord 550
- a bracelet shackle or buckle
- a lighter
- scissors
Another look at the bracelet.
The backbone bar paracord bracelet tutorial
To begin fold the cord in half and attach it to the shackle using a lark’s head knot. In the tutorial below I used a ring hitch knot.
Measure the length of the bracelet and start making slip knots at the bottom. You start on one side, make a knot, slip the top part with the shackle through the loop of the slip knot and then tighten the slip knot. Then make the slip knot on the other side. Alternate the knots to each side. Tightening the slip knots is what will make your bracelet look like it should, so tighten as you go and pay attention to it.
Be sure to leave a couple of loops at the bottom for the other part of the shackle.
When you reach the top, cut the ends and melt them. Alternatively you could use a half hitch on each end to secure it.
The tying technique is also demonstrated in the video tutorial:
How to deploy?
Remove the U-part of the shackle and pull on the other end.
